Some women are genetically blessed in the butt department. Some of us aren’t. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have an awesome butt — you just have to know the right butt exercises to do!

As someone who has never been blessed in the butt department, I have spent YEARS figuring out the best butt exercises and I am about to share them with you. During this time, I’ve also figured out that I seem to do butt exercises that 90% of people don’t do! A lot of people (this may include you) think the key to a killer butt is a bunch of lunges and squats, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.

While there is no way to guarantee a butt like this, these exercises will seriously help you get there!

Note: You are not going to find before-and-after pictures here because sharing my butt on the internet is not my thing. 🙂 But (haha)… I’m happy with my results from these exercises and I think you will be too!

Important note: I am not a personal trainer, so please consult one if you have any questions about these exercises. And you take full responsibility for doing any of these exercises listed here.

Before I get to the three exercises, let’s first talk about something important: what NOT to do if your goal is to build an awesome butt.

What NOT to Do to Build an Awesome Butt

#1: Don’t focus solely on bodyweight only exercises.

You’ve probably seen a million exercises like this floating around online. (This exercise is called a Donkey Kick, by the way.) The promise is that you’ll build an amazing butt just by doing three sets of 20 of these, plus maybe some bodyweight lunges or squats thrown in for good measure.

These are not going to give you an awesome butt! They’ll barely even shape your butt unless you do 500 of them a day. These might be good “booty burners” after you do the exercises in this post, but these alone are not going to give you the butt you want.

If you want to shape, lift, tighten, and/or build your butt, you’re going to have to use some resistance (aka add some weights). All of the exercises I’m going to show you use at least some weight.

#2: Don’t do a bunch of exercises that build other parts of the lower body.

If you want a great butt, you need to work your BUTT, not your butt, hamstrings, quads, and calves. This is particularly important for gals like me who have naturally small/flat butts. If your butt is already small, you don’t want to build your butt AND the rest of your lower body. You want that booty to pop… and you do that by working it as much as possible.

It’s important to work other parts of the lower body, but not with every exercise.

There are other things I could putt here like “don’t sit down for 23 hours a day” but I think those are a given. Let’s move onto the exercises!

Best Butt Exercises – Exercise #1: The Hip Thrust

This first exercise comes courtesy of Bret Contreras, who is considered “the world’s expert on glute training.” When it comes to great butts, this man knows what he’s talking about. In fact, he’s done tons of scientfic testing to figure out the most effective butt exercises out there.

His #1 recommendation? The hip thrust. It is a killer butt exercise that can be done in a ton of different ways.

Here is a video of the hip thrust:

Best Butt Exercises – Exercise #2: Pulley Glute Kickbacks

I love the hip thrust, but (sorry, Mr. Contreras), I am obsessed with pulley glute kickbacks. This is where you attach a band or strap to your ankle or shoe (more on that in a minute) to a pulley machine at the gym and extend your foot backward to work your butt.

To do this exercise effectively, you need the right attachment. The paltry velcro ankle strap at your gym (if they even have one) will slip up and down your ankle or even fly off in the middle of the exercise.

You can get creative with this exercise and go beyond what’s shown in this video. Change the direction of your foot as you kick back (even just a slight change can make a big difference), or position yourself differently and swing your leg out to the side instead of the back.

Best Butt Exercises – Exercise #3: Elevated Hip Abduction

I love this exercise because it takes a piece of gym equipment — the hip abduction machine —that is (in my opinion) rather useless and turns it into a butt-building beast! This exercise is called an elevated hip abduction because you’re going to elevate your body off the seat and use the position to work your butt in an awesome way.

I learned about this exercise from a woman I consider the butt queen, Brittany Perille Yobe. Her Instagram is a treasure trove of inspiration and demonstrations of amazing glute exercises, including this one.

What Will Also Give You an Awesome Butt

Tight muscles can lead to reduced glute activation. And if your glutes aren’t activating/firing appropriately, then the best butt exercises in the world will not give you the best butt in the world because they won’t be 100% effective!

Some people use foam rollers, but I gave up my foam roller after I realized it wasn’t very effective. I was just rolling on a smooth surface and not digging into my muscles.

So I bought the Rumble Roller and my life changed forever (seriously). This thing REALLY digs into your muscles and loosens them up in a way the foam roller never did. I can’t live without it and neither should you!

Note: I purchased the original half-size Rumble Roller and it has been perfect.

#2: Using a standing desk.

Sitting all day is NOT good for our glutes. It tightens our hip flexors, gets us all out of alignment, and makes it harder for our glutes to fire. So what’s the best solution? A standing desk!

Even if you don’t use it at work and just use it at home, this can make a huge difference. I highly recommend this VARIDESK. It’s a bit of an investment but it is 100% worth it for better-activating glutes!

Now Go Build an Awesome Butt!

These exercises only work if you actually get out there and do them. I hope they help you as much as they’ve helped me!

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On the Keto Diet?

Last but not least, if you’re on the keto diet (of if you want to learn more), check out my popular keto post, 33 Must-Try Fat Bomb Recipes!